


NYADA Crushes

by notthetoothfairy



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Crushes, Dancing, Drabble, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, NYADA, One Shot, Social Media
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-15
Updated: 2015-10-15
Packaged: 2018-04-26 13:36:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5006713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notthetoothfairy/pseuds/notthetoothfairy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kurt doesn’t think it’s going to be a big deal if he posts an anonymous message on the NYADA Crushes Facebook page about the cute guy he just saw fall on his ass in front of the NYADA main entrance. Little does he know that Blaine is going to be his dance TA once the new school year starts, and that Blaine has a history with NYADA Crushes, too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	NYADA Crushes

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Very brief references to the 5x15 (Bash) happenings and some foul language.
> 
> You know how a lot of colleges have these adorable Crushes Facebook pages? I went through some of their timelines and my mind went straight from those to Klaine. *innocent shrug*
> 
> Thank you, a-simple-rainbow, for once again beta'ing my nonsense and providing me with lots of motivation and helpful thoughts. :)

**\- April 2014, End of Sophomore Year -**

Closing the door behind him with a big smile on his face, Blaine leaves Cassandra July's office feeling elevated and accomplished. It's not often that these feelings come hand in hand with a one-on-one meeting with his dance professor; everyone at NYADA knows that.

Hell, even his roommate Sam knows that. Granted, he hadn't even looked up from his video game once when Blaine told him he was going to leave quickly to see Miss July in her office but he  _had_  shouted a heartfelt, "Nice knowing you, bro!"

But, boy, did he have news for Sam. Because instead of skinning him alive, Cassie had offered him the newly vacant position of the teaching assistant.

Yes, come fall term, the beginning of Blaine's junior year, he was going to be the TA for  _Cassie_ 's(first name basis and all) Dance 101 class.

Blaine's head is still reeling when he pushes the heavy doors of the main entrance open and steps out into the sunshine. The weather is really reflecting his current mood, even though the contrast from dark hallways to bright light is making white specks appear in front of his eyes. It's not enough to dim his exuberant smile and that's why his next move seems even more idiotic in hindsight.

Instead of taking each step at a time like a normal, functional human-being, he sub-consciously decides to skip one in favor of a little jubilant jump.

It probably would have looked decent, if somewhat dorky, considering he's goofing around all by himself, had he not lost his balance when his foot missed the next step by the narrowest of margins. As it is, the lack of proper footing sends him flying backwards and, feeling like everything's in slow motion all of a sudden, Blaine feels his rear end connect with the hard surface first, making him groan in pain.

Once the initial shock and the ache have worn off and he realizes that he just  _yelped out loud while falling to the ground with a large grin on his face, what the hell,_  he pushes himself off the ground. He wipes his legs and butt clean in case the stairs were dusty – which they probably were, who is he kidding, he lives in New York City, after all – and self-consciously scans the nearby area for any nosy strangers who might have stopped to stare at him. His eyes are still a bit blinded, though, and he doesn't want to make his little display of clumsiness look even more ridiculous than it already is, so he ignores the soreness in his thighs and walks away quickly.

He really hopes nobody he knew was watching him because if they were, Blaine is willing to give this incident a very high place on his list of embarrassing moments in his life. Even higher than what he likes to call the "Kurt Hummel Fiasco of 2013".

No, okay, probably not higher than that. Few things in his young life can be considered as pathetic as that particular chapter of his NYADA experience. Mainly his numerous performances at Six Flags, the time he had publicly serenaded a mortified crush of his at the GAP, and when his classmates had filmed him twerking like a madman in an empty classroom without his knowledge.

But the Kurt Hummel Fiasco of 2013 comes pretty close. Sam keeps telling him that he is blowing things way out of proportion but Blaine can't help but feel stupid when he thinks about it. It's one of those dumb things that you never stop being embarrassed of, whether you said it five, ten, or fifteen years ago.

Though, in Blaine's case, it's not even been half a year and the problem is that he didn't actually say anything at all.

It had started with the Winter Showcase in 2012, Blaine's freshman year. He had not been one of the lucky ones to be invited to perform at the showcase but, of course, he had still attended the event. He'd been overwhelmed by the sheer talent of the participants but the one that truly knocked the air out of his lungs was someone who wasn't even formally enrolled at NYADA yet – Kurt Hummel.

He'd chosen to audition with a heartfelt rendition of "Being Alive" from Company, and the song seemed to fit the boy like a glove. The register did brilliant things for his strong yet angelic voice, and his stage presence was incredible. By the end of it, Blaine's mouth had dropped so wide it wouldn't have surprised him if his jaw had actually reached the floor in the process.

It had been pretty clear to everyone in the room that Carmen Tibideaux would allow the new student to enroll in time for spring term. This, of course, meant that Blaine got to see more of him than was probably helpful.

They somehow didn't share any classes at all, even though Rachel Berry, the girl Blaine had seen Kurt hang out with a few times, was in a lot of his own. But he did see Kurt on other occasions, like at Midnight Madness, where Blaine had suddenly been not so sure if Rachel and Kurt where actually friends (there was a lot of smack talk), but had forgotten all about that once Kurt opened his mouth to sing that night.

It wasn't just the singing, though. Blaine would have been enthralled by the boy in any case but the boy's looks, his confident aura and the few of his witty comments Blaine was lucky enough to overhear when he saw him pass in the hallway made it even easier for Blaine's heart to do some alarming summersaults in his chest.

He had continued to admire Kurt from a distance, never actually finding a way to introduce himself to the boy in a way that would have seemed casual, and just accepted the fact that he was crushing on someone who didn't even know he existed.

And when he got invited to one of Carmen Tibideaux's smaller class showcases by a friend who was featured in it, he had witnessed Kurt sing yet another epic piece that seemed to be cut out just for him. He had sung about still being there with a self-confidence that was both fascinating and intimidating to Blaine. If he hadn't already heard about Kurt's heroic act in one of New York City's shady back allies from all the other students, the message of the song and the sight of Kurt's face covered in little cuts and bruises would have clued him in eventually.

That performance had sort of been the last straw for Blaine, and it had only taken him about a month to give in to the urge to act on his admittedly far-fetched and utopian but nonetheless pressing feelings. However, having learned the hard way that approaching people he didn't actually know that well in his rather intense way would lead to rejection and misery, Blaine had chosen a much safer method that he didn't think would be that much more frustrating in the end.

He had known about the NYADA Crushes Facebook page ever since one of his friends got tagged in a post. After perusing the most recent anonymous declarations quickly, Blaine knew that it was a keeper. He was a sucker for cute little love stories, and knowing that they all took place at his school made it even more fun.

It wasn't the fun of it that drove him to submit his own confession, though. He'd later blame the fact that he was still painfully single, that it was Christmas time on top of that, and that the thought of everyone snuggling up to their significant other while he read Star Wars fanfictions to his roommate to help him sleep better drove him batshit crazy.

He had also been a little drunk off his mother's home-made egg nog. And his fingers had slipped.

To this day, it haunts him. No matter how many times Sam assures him that the message was kind and sweet and not as bad as Blaine is constantly making it out to be, Blaine feels like a complete idiot. Not because of what he wrote, though he could have just left Kurt's name out in retrospect, but rather because of Kurt's answer. Knowing that Kurt really had  _no idea_  was a little heartbreaking.

Maybe even a lot heartbreaking.

Because in his fantasies, his confession usually played out a different way – Kurt would blush, and laugh, and tell him he'd had a crush on Blaine all this time, too, before moving in to press a sweet kiss to Blaine's lips.

He feels like a naïve high-schooler admitting it even to himself. But then again, it makes sense, considering that his romantic history is… well, to say that it is non-existent is probably putting it nicely.

There's the Jeremiah debacle and Blaine doesn't even know what hit him to do something so completely reckless. He got the guy  _fired_. Just because he couldn't tone it down a notch.

Then there's Sebastian and the first time Blaine wished someone would  _not_  pursue him so strongly. Sebastian was all seduction and no romance. Blaine almost gave in, just for the sake of experimenting, but in the end, he decided to stay true to himself and wait for love to come his way.

Which is why sleeping with Eli was a stupid move. Sure, Eli was nice enough and careful and very handsome… but Blaine didn't love him, nor did he love Blaine. It was nothing more than a hook-up, one that had started out with a poke on Facebook, for crying out loud.

He traded his loneliness for a blowjob and he isn't proud to admit it.

It doesn't necessarily make his list of most embarrassing things to happen to him but it certainly makes for a nice number 1 candidate on the list of things he regrets the most.

Then there is the brief crush on Sam during his first weeks in NYC – and really, who's to blame him, the guy is a  _model_  – but that had ended very quickly once they moved in together and he realized what a slob Sam was. Not that he would have stood a chance, anyway. After all, Sam is very undeniably straight.

So maybe he's acting like a high-schooler with a hopeless crush but he just has this feeling that he would get along with Kurt  _perfectly_. That maybe, finally there was someone who he'd just click with.

But he had ruined it with that Facebook post. Not only had Kurt no idea who he was – if Blaine ever did manage to talk to Kurt, maybe ask him out on a date, sooner or later it would come up that he was the one to write that message and Kurt would probably be weirded out enough to never go on a date with him again. He'd seen enough rom-coms to know that keeping secrets never worked out for anyone.

And, Blaine tells himself bitterly, none of that is going to happen, anyway, because Blaine can't even look at Kurt anymore without feeling his face burn up and his brain going into overdrive.

He doesn't know what's wrong him, he just knows one thing.

Kurt Hummel? Top on his list of things that are simply out of his reach.

* * *

Kurt rounds the corner to the NYADA main building, barely managing to dodge the large street map of an obnoxiously touristy-looking tourist before it hits his face.

On a normal day, he would have probably gotten snarky but he's fairly certain that nothing can affect his good mood today. He's just coming from his first rehearsal at the Lexington Home for Retired Performers and even though someone literally had to die for him to get the lead role in the play, he feels appreciated like he hasn't in a very long time, what with Rachel having entered a completely exclusive relationship with her Broadway career and Santana shoving her commercial shoot in his face whenever she feels like it, painfully reminding him of how success-less he is at the moment.

Not at Lexington, though. Sure, a home for the elderly is not the fanciest location to perform at, but not only did they give him the lead, they also granted him creative freedom to adapt the play to a more modern setting. His mind is already buzzing with ideas, a musical transformation for the second scene in the first act in particular. Which is why he needs to stop by NYADA's computer room quickly on his way home – it's the only place where he can make free copies of his sheet music.

When he's almost at the main entrance, impatiently waiting for the traffic to ease up so he can cross the street, he watches a guy come out of the building with quick steps. He's cute, short, neatly gelled hair, a carefree smile on his face… Kurt knows he's seen him before in the hallway, never quite sure who the guy is exactly, but then again, it's not that surprising, he hasn't made many friends at NYADA. They had all already found their small group of friends when Kurt had started out and he almost never had time for the social events on campus, anyway, because he had to run off to help his boss at or to catch his late-night shift at the Spotlight Diner.

Kurt feels the corner of his lips twitch up in a smile because the guy's grin is really infectious. Maybe he should just go over and introduce himself. It's the first time in weeks he's seen a happy NYADA student, what with finals approaching so quickly, and Kurt's in a carefree, flirtatious mood. Who knows – if he's lucky, the guy is just as gay and single as Kurt.

Just as Kurt decides it's worth a shot and moves to cross the street, the guy lets out a yelp and slips down a step with flailing arms. Apparently, he tried to skip it with a little jump, as far as Kurt can tell with a car blocking his view for a few seconds, and when the car passes, he can see the guy sitting on his ass and looking a bit dumbfounded, his eyebrows knitted tight together and his eyes blinking quickly a few times. Then he gets up quickly, glancing around himself like he is expecting someone to laugh at him, and dusts off his pants.

Kurt is torn between laughing out loud and running over to make sure he is okay. Really, he's never seen someone look so freaking adorable while falling down a flight of stairs.

But before he can make a conscious decision to finally go over and help the poor guy out, another car passes, trapping Kurt on the wrong side of the street, and leaving him no option but to watch as the guy walks away quickly, only limping slightly. Kurt sighs to himself, enjoying the sight for a few seconds before realizing he's being incredibly creepy.

Plus, a quick glance at his watch tells him he really needs to hurry if he wants to stop by the computer room before Drama Theory 102 is over and all the freshmen storm out to hog the computer room to print and copy stuff for their final exams. And he also promised Rachel to go to the vegan grocery store before it closes on his way home because lights are out on Broadway on Monday nights and she didn't feel like leaving the apartment.

So, maybe it was convenient that he didn't get a chance to talk to the smiley guy. At least, this way, he'll save time and actually manage to run all the errands.

Still, Kurt thinks to himself as he finally enters the building, it would have been nice to at least learn his name so he could find out more about him.

If only there was a way to-  _oh_.

He could always send a message to NYADA Crushes.

Kurt isn't exactly proud to admit it but ever since he's been tagged in one of the posts half a year ago, he's been checking their Facebook a lot more frequently. Because… while he was a bit baffled at the time and half-convinced someone was playing a very cruel practical joke on him, the words of the post stuck with him.

But it couldn't be a joke because there was no follow-up to the first post and Kurt really doubts someone would pull a prank on him that made him feel good about himself. Because that's what the message had done. He really had been flattered. God, someone thought he was beautiful and talented, of course he had been flattered.

And even though there had been no other messages directed at him, Kurt still found it amusing to scroll through the NYADA Crushes' timeline, sometimes recognizing descriptions about his friends even though no name had come with the confession – one of them was definitely about Adam, nobody else on campus had a British accent, so subtlety wasn't always the intention of the poster.

Because sometimes, people on the page just wanted to find out the name of the person they just met and forgot to get the name of.

Kurt pulls out his sheet music and starts copying. As soon as the machine is busy, he fingers his phone out of his pocket, pulling up the Facebook page and clicking on the submission link. Should he…?

_Oh, what the heck, it's anonymous, why not?_

He types out what he wants to say, rephrases it about five times, only forcing himself to actually submit it when the copy machine beeps to alert him that paper tray 2 needs to be refilled.

Fresh copies neatly stashed away in his messenger bag, Kurt leaves the building the same way he came from, smiling to himself as he takes each step on the main staircase carefully to avoid falling down. He doubts he'd look as adorable as the gorgeous specimen he saw earlier.

He makes it to the vegan grocery store in time and peruses Rachel's list carefully. She has a habit of drawing smiley faces behind the items on the list that aren't necessary for survival but a good midnight snack when one of them gets upset. This week, there are five smiley faces on the list, three of them marking different kinds of vegan chocolate, and one messy note from Santana scrabbled on the bottom, saying, "Rachel and I are cranky this week, so you better bring the goodies."

Kurt grimaces in commiseration. He knows "cranky" is code for their periods. His roommates' bodies seem to work like clockwork, never missing a day, and on top of that, they're on the same cycle. The first time it happened, Kurt was a bit afraid they might snap at each other without abandon the whole week, but he's learned enough in the one and a half years he's been living with both of them to know that while Santana really does get cranky, Rachel actually isn't snappy as much as she's clingy, usually wrapping herself in a big blanket on the couch and waiting for Kurt to bring home the comfort food.

While he waits for his turn at the cash register, he pulls out his phone and checks Facebook. The people who run NYADA Crushes must be online at the moment because they've already posted his submission. Some people have already clicked the like button but there are no comments yet.

Kurt sighs to himself as the cashier finally starts sweeping his items. Why did he think this was a good idea? He should have known better. Patience is not really his strong suit, after all.

Items all bagged and phone back in his pocket, Kurt leaves the shop and makes his way home, thoughts drifting back to the great rehearsal he's had earlier.

* * *

Sam is in the middle of making dinner when Blaine comes home, his limp getting considerably worse with every step.

"Wow, you're still alive," he comments when Blaine sets his bag down on one of the table and plumps down on one of their kitchen chairs, wincing in pain when his butt complains about the sudden pressure.

"Barely," Blaine gasps. "I think I need an ice pack."

Sam looks up from the carrots he's cutting with a worried face.

"Wait, did she actually beat you up?"

Blaine stares at his roommate in confusion. "… what?"

"Oh my god, did she gave you a concussion? Should I call the cops?"

"Hold on," Blaine says, putting up a hand to stop Sam from freaking out. "Who are you talking about?"

Sam makes a 'duh' face. "June… something. You know. Your dance professor.  _Crazy Lady_."

Once Blaine connects the dots, he bursts out laughing so hard, he has to hold his arms to his side to stop himself from shaking.

"It's, uh," he pants. "It's July. Cassandra July. And no, she didn't beat me up."

"Oh." Sam shrugs and goes back to cutting the carrots. "What did she want?"

"Oh, you know, the usual… tell me about my awesome progress, offer me a job as her TA…"

Sam nods along until the message seems to sink in, and he looks up again with wide eyes.

"Dude, what?! You managed to become Crazy Lady teacher's pet? Congrats!"

Blaine laughs. "I'm allowed to call her Cassie now, so… no more Crazy Lady."

"Aw, but I liked calling her that," Sam says with a pout.

"Me, too," Blaine admits. "But she's my boss now. I don't want to accidentally call her Crazy Lady to her face."

"Yeah, that'd be awkward." Sam picks up the knife again and motions towards Blaine's lower body with it. "So, anyway, how did you get that limp or whatever's troubling you?"

"Please don't wave sharp objects in my direction," Blaine says, sitting back in his chair in case Sam loses control over his movements. Sam and dangerous things is usually a bad combination.

"Sorry." Sam lets the knife slide into the next carrot. "But I want to hear the story behind your little accident."

Blaine gets up and pulls one of his ice packs from his shelf in the fridge. If there's one thing he learned in his dance and stage combat classes, it's that ice packs can be lifesavers after a particularly demanding week.

"There's not much of a story to tell," he says, leaning against the counter and putting the ice pack against his aching butt, aware that he's going to wet the material of hits pants but too desperate to care. "Ah, that's better. I, uh, I skipped a step on the stairs and landed on my ass."

"Why'd you skip a step?"

"Because I was happy about the teaching job." Blaine squirms, feeling embarrassed all over again. "I tried to celebrate by jumping. I was smiling like an idiot, too."

Sam laughs. "Anybody see you?"

"God, I hope not."

Sam is nice about it at first but once Blaine regains feeling in his upper legs and backside and it's clear that he isn't actually that hurt, the teasing starts. By the time their dinner is ready, Blaine considers stealing the food and making a run for it to teach Sam a lesson, but the prospect of watching Guardians of the Galaxy together while eating dinner on the couch is more promising, so he refrains.

Halfway through the movie, Blaine has to pee and they pause the movie. He hears Sam cackling at something all the way from the bathroom, and when he comes back, Sam is doubled over on the couch, typing something on his phone with a mischievous grin.

"What's that all about?" Blaine asks.

He doesn't get an answer from Sam directly but his phone buzzes in his pocket, so he figures Sam must have sent him whatever was so funny. He expects a picture of a silly animal or maybe a funny Vine.

What he sees, though, when he opens his Facebook feed, is something he  _definitely_  didn't expect.

"What the…" he mutters.

Sam is still wheezing, so he's not of any help.

"Is this really…?" he asks and trails off because he doesn't know which question to ask first.  _Happening? True? About me?_

"So someone did see you," Sam finally gets out. "And they thought you looked…" He pauses to get the wording right, " _really uber adorable_ while doing it."

Blaine doesn't even know which part of him is winning over right now – the one which is still embarrassed he fell down a flight of stairs looking like an idiot, or the one which is seriously pleased with him because someone thought he looked cute. Either way, he blushes when Sam recites the message.

"How the hell did you find this?" Blaine frowns. "You don't even go to NYADA, why are you liking their Crushes page?"

"Are you kidding me?" Sam lets out another chuckle. "I have to make sure I'm in the know if you decide to write Kurt another love letter."

Blaine covers his face with his hands. "Sam!" he moans. "It wasn't a love letter, I just said I had a crush on him. There's a difference."

"Uh-uh," Sam says knowingly. "And I'm sure all the whining and pining I've had to listen to for the past one and a half years is just… a phase."

Blaine peeks through his fingers to glare at his best friend. "I don't whine and pine."

"You do, too!" Sam exclaims. He presses a hand to his chest and makes his voice go a little higher. " _Kurt is so handsome and he has the prettiest scarf collection!_ " He tosses back his head with a hand to his forehead, pretending to swoon. " _His voice is like honey, I swear!_ "

"I- I don't sound like that!" Blaine protests, throwing a pillow at Sam.

" _Kurt said the funniest thing today, well, he didn't say it to me, but he walked in front of me when he said it!_ "

"Oh god, am I really that pathetic?" Blaine asks, mortified.

Sam nods solemnly, stopping his imitation of Blaine.

Blaine groans in response.

The thing is… he's  _not_  in love with Kurt, he really isn't. He doesn't even  _know_  the guy. But he has to admit that for a simple crush, he's really hung up on the guy.

And he did get pretty jealous when Kurt dated that tall, British dude with the fancy accent for a while.

What is  _wrong_  with him?

Even now, with that anonymous message written about him, Blaine can't help but hope that maybe it's Kurt. He knows it's ridiculous and he's probably not Kurt's type and there's not even an indication that the sender is male… maybe it's yet another girl who has mistaken Blaine for straight.

"You still in there?" Sam asks, tapping his fingers against Blaine's head.

Blaine blinks. "Yeah," he says. "Just realizing how much of an idiot I am."

"But so  _uber adorable_!"

"Shut up, Sam."

* * *

When he comes home, Rachel is making tea in her fluffiest set of pajamas and Santana is lounging on the couch, bare legs stretched out over the backrest of the couch, her middle section covered by a fuzzy blanket. Kurt's known her long enough to know that she's probably naked except for her panties under the blanket.

He's not that fazed by her flashing him as he used to be the first few times it happened.

"Hi," he announces his presence, stepping into the apartment and holding up his shopping bags with a smile.

"You're an angel!" Rachel gushes and peeks into one of the bags excitedly when he sets it onto the kitchen counter. "Where's the chocolate?"

Kurt chuckles. "Here." He fishes the bars out of the other bag that is still in his hand and passes it to Rachel. "Share with Satan."

"Yes, mom," Rachel replies with a grin.

When Kurt is finished putting everything in the fridge, he walks back to the living area, where now Rachel and Santana are both perched on the couch, Santana still hanging down the couch like a bat with her feet on the backrest.

She sees Kurt's questioning expression and groans, "Upside down is less painful, don't ask."

Kurt nods. He hopes the two of them won't actually need him to do much more other than bring them chocolate because he wants to practice his lines for Peter Pan and also maybe check NYADA Crushes for an update because it's been an hour now, maybe he can expect a comment by now.

But luck's not on his side.

"Kurt, tell us about your day," Rachel says and pats the spot next to her on the couch.

Kurt cocks an eyebrow. "You want to hear about my day?" he asks skeptically.

"Not really," Santana says, munching away on her chocolate bar, "but we haven't left the apartment all day and you're literally the most interesting thing we've seen in hours."

"Gee, thanks," Kurt mutters sarcastically, letting himself fall in between them, Rachel immediately laying her head on his shoulder and cuddling up to him. "My day was nice,  _thanks for asking, Santana_."

"That's it?" Santana asks and actually sits up a little to look at him in disgust. "My abuela tells better stories than that."

Well, at least she was being honest when she said she was cranky.

But Kurt Hummel doesn't step down from a challenge, so he gives storytelling his best shot and tells them about the funniest rehearsal moments and his ideas for the musical and the cute guy he saw fall down in front of the school and-

"Wait, you wrote that?" Rachel asks excitedly, immediately picking up her phone from the table and opening the Facebook app.

_Uh-oh._

He momentarily forgot that they know about NYADA Crushes. But of course they do. Especially Rachel, who has already been mentioned on the page more than once, especially now that she's had her Funny Girl breakthrough. But Santana likes to peruse the website, too, occasionally making fun of the "pathetic people who post these things".

Kurt closes his eyes and sighs inwardly. Now he's one of those people. Great.

"Wrote what?" Santana asks curiously and when Kurt tries to stop her from taking Rachel's phone, she scratches his hand with her fingernails and makes him drop it.

"Ow!" he exclaims, trying to get the phone back and accidentally knocking her in the stomach with his elbow in the process, which makes her howl in pain.

"Kurt, you suck!" she yells. "I'm in enough pain as it is!"

"Yeah, that's foul play," Rachel agrees.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he hurries to say. "Wasn't intentional."

She rubs her belly under the blanket soothingly and uses her free hand to punch in Rachel's passcode to unlock the phone.

"Why do you know my passcode?" Rachel asks with wide eyes.

Santana shrugs. "The real question is, why are you surprised?" she retorts in a bored voice. "Wow, Kurt, I didn't know you were such a poet.  _Uber adorable_ , that's real grand."

"Oh god, please shut up," Kurt says miserably, burying himself deeper into the couch cushions.

"I didn't know you liked Blaine Anderson," Rachel says from his right, and Kurt's head snaps up.

"You know his name?" he asks.

Rachel nods. "Yeah, he's a sophomore, too. How come you don't know him?"

"I don't know half the people at our school, Rachel, and I had to take so many freshman classes last semester that by now, I know more freshmen than people in our own grade."

"Oh." Rachel frowns. "Wait, you like someone you don't even know the name of?"

"I don't  _like_  him," Kurt says. "I just thought he looked cute, and I didn't get to talk to him, so I thought I'd find out his name."

"Huh, well, I've had a few classes with him," Rachel tells him. "He's a nice guy. Charming. Good dancer. Gorgeous singing voice. Easy on the eyes." She grins at him. "But you already know that."

"Oooh, sounds like a catch," Santana teases. "And he does look  _uber adorable_  on his profile picture."

"You found his Facebook?"

"Easy." She shrugs. "He was tagged in the comments."

"That's how I knew it was him," Rachel explains.

Kurt nods. "Makes sense. Now gimme that phone, Satan."

Santana passes him the phone and slumps back into her original posture, grumbling a bit about the pain in her lower abdomen as she moves around to get comfortable.

Blaine's Facebook profile is still open so the first thing Kurt sees is the profile picture Santana was referring to. Indeed, he looks very cute on it, holding a drink in his hand and smiling at something to his left. He's wearing a checkered shirt in red, white, grey and black and his hair is slicked back with gel, just like Kurt remembers from earlier that day.

"Stop drooling," Santana says with a smirk.

Kurt rolls his eyes at her, but ignores her otherwise in favor of looking up useful information on his profile.

"Damn, it doesn't say if he's into men."

Rachel starts laughing. "Really, Kurt?"

"What?"

"We really need to work on your gaydar," she says. "I mean… I'll admit he fooled  _me_  when I asked him out but contrary to you, I don't actually need my gaydar on a daily basis."

Santana cranes her neck to gape at Rachel. "Wait, you asked him out?"

If Santana hadn't asked, Kurt certainly would have. He's staring at Rachel, too.

"What?" She shrugs. "He's cute, I thought it was worth a shot. He let me down really gently, too. Like I said, he's a charmer. I bet you two would be soooo cute together. I could-"

Kurt sits up straight. "Oh, no," he cuts her off. "No meddling. No match-making. I forbid you."

She starts to pout right away. "But, Kurt-"

"Rachel, no! I just wanted to know his name. Now I know it. It's all good, end of story."

"Why go through the trouble of writing that message if you don't want to ask him out?" Santana asks with a frown.

"I don't even know him, Santana. Maybe he's a jerk-"

"He's not," Rachel interrupts.

"Doesn't matter, I'm not going on another blind date."

The girls had set him up on a ton of blind dates ever since they all moved in together. He feels like he's been on a date with half of New York City's male population, and most of them had been so bland that he had only agreed to a second date twice in the span of a little more than a year.  _Twice._

It's probably him. He's such a romantic, deep down, that blind dates don't really mean anything to him. He'd like to get to know the other person before going on a date. Being set up on a date by their friends just isn't Kurt's style.

"It wouldn't exactly be a blind date, though," Santana points out. "You've already seen the guy. And you've picked him yourself, too."

Kurt sighs. "Yeah but I just don't know anything about him."

Rachel perks up. "I can tell you-"

"No, I don't want to be told anything." Kurt knows he's being extra difficult about this but he just can't shake the feeling it's not the way it's supposed to play out. "If it so happens that I meet him again, which isn't that unlikely because we go to the same school, I might talk to him. If not, it's fine. It's not like I'm emotionally attached or anything."

Santana rolls her eyes. "No wonder you haven't gotten laid in so long," she says dryly.

"Maybe I don't want to get laid."

"Yeah, you want a relationship," Santana drawls. "Which is why you dumped Mary Poppins the second he got too close for your liking."

"If you're referring to Adam, I just wasn't in love with him, okay?" Kurt snaps. "He told me he loved me and I didn't want to string him along. Of course I want a relationship! But I've never even had a real one. All I've had are bad dates and a semi-relationship with a guy I couldn't fall in love with. So, no, I don't want another date, I want to connect with someone first and  _then_  date them. I've tried the casual dating thing and it's just not for me. So lay off my case, will you?"

Santana is silent for a while. "Sorry," she finally says. "I guess you're right, you should just do what you think is best."

"Thanks," Kurt sighs.

Rachel hums. "Maybe it's not the best idea to date another NYADA student, anyway."

"Again, I'm  _not_  looking for a date," Kurt reminds her but curiosity gets the best of him and he adds, "Why would it be a bad idea?"

"Look at us," she says. "Me and Brody – disaster. You and Adam – he kicked you out of Adam's Apples."

"To be fair, we're friends again and he said I'm welcome whenever."

"But did you rejoin?" Rachel asks.

"Of course not," Kurt says at once. "How awkward would that be?"

"See," Rachel says as if the case is closed, "you lost an extracurricular activity. Dating within the same academic program? Bad idea. So forget about Blaine and-"

Kurt just throws his head back and groans.

Why are they talking about dates and relationships and  _Blaine_  as if he was going to throw himself at him? All he wanted was to know the guy's name and maybe introduce himself. Now he's pretty sure that is never going to happen, if just to prove a point to Rachel and Santana.

"Can we just change the subject, please?" he asks miserably. "I'm starting to feel like  _I'm_  on my period."

"I'll trade you so you can have the real experience," Santana offers immediately.

"Yeah, you don't know the first thing about our pain," Rachel moans but shares some of her chocolate with Kurt nonetheless.

* * *

**\- May 2014 onwards, Start of Junior Year -**

Finals week comes and goes. Blaine thinks he does fairly well on everything, though he his performance at the vocal jury could have been much better; he missed the right spot for breathing once and almost messed up the following verse. He's sure it didn't affect his singing all that much but it might have shown in his facial expression and he knows that Prof. Tibideaux is very nitpicky about these things. He's always nervous when she's one of the judges.

But in the end, his instructor, Dr. Yeung, sends him an email with the jury comments in an attachment and it seems that except for his little breathing slip-up and a minor mistake in posture, they all thought he did a great job.

Sam takes him out for drinking that night, celebrating his new teaching job and finishing sophomore year and also Sam's new model gig, and Blaine finally lets himself relax. He's finally on break, he's already made a pile of books he wants to read in the following months, he's got his flight home booked to spend a week in Ohio with his mom and his brother, and Sam and he are moving to a bigger apartment in July, so he has a feeling it's going to be a great summer.

The move takes a lot of their energy. Renovating, furnishing and decorating the apartment keeps him busy over the summer, and he's happy when in the midst of it, he still finds time to hang out with Wes and David, who are both studying in Boston and come to visit him in the end of July. He even finds time to take a little trip to Washington, DC with Sam.

And his crush on Kurt Hummel is finally decreasing. Being away from school for such a long time makes it easier to let go, and the message someone wrote about him on NYADA Crushes is definitely helping. Granted, Blaine still has no idea who it is from, but if anything, it's an ego boost. Though he has to admit, it's kind of frustrating that the sender isn't making themselves known. He even feels a little bad for making Kurt go through the same thing.

But still, it feels nice to know that someone noticed him.

Relaxed and ready to restart school, Blaine tackles his first Tuesday morning back at NYADA with relentless energy. Mr. Yeung lets out an impressed whistle when he hits a note he hasn't managed to reach before during his warm-ups and his improv class is so much fun that Blaine is almost disappointed once class is dismissed.

On Wednesday, his first Dance 101 class with Cassie is scheduled. He arrives at school an hour earlier, determined to go over a few moves so he will prove himself worthy of the job. He's seen Cassie yell at her TAs before and he could really do without that experience.

He has his back to the door when he stretches his legs on the ballet barres, which is why he doesn't notice when someone enters the room half an hour into his preparation.

"Um, excuse me?" a voice speaks up. "Is this Dance 101?"

Blaine takes his leg off the barre and turns around with a smile on his face to meet his first student.

And promptly has to fight hard to keep the smile in place because he's standing face to face with Kurt Hummel. He ends up biting the inside of his cheek; it's all he can do not to blurt out,  _What the hell are_ you _doing in Dance 101?_

"Uh, yeah," Blaine manages to say. "You've come to the right place. I'm Blaine, the TA."

At least he thinks it's what he says because judging from the look on Kurt's, he could have also just introduced himself as the new exchange student from planet Mars.

Kurt's mouth hangs slightly open and his eyes are as wide as saucers.

Blaine's starting to panic that maybe Kurt  _does_  know who he is. Maybe he's heard bad things about him. Oh god, what if he knows that he's behind that anonymous crush confession? What if he  _knows_  but he  _hates_  Blaine and that's why he  _pretended_  like he didn't know?

The urge to send Sam a quick and desperate text message becomes almost unbearable in the half minute it takes for Kurt to answer.

"Oh, um, sorry, I'm Kurt," he says, blushing a deep shade of red and making Blaine's suspicious even worse when he hastily adds, "I'm just going to- uh, I have some- some stuff to do, I'll come back in time for the lesson, bye."

And like that, he's gone.

Blaine stares after him, trying to wrap his head around what just happened, and finally does pull out his cell phone to text Sam.

_code blue! – B_

_oh god, is mcconaughey okay? – S_

_no wait that's code green, what's code blue again? – S_

_omg sam get with the program – B_

_code blue is kurt – B_

_dude sorry your code colors are so confusing – S_

_green is the dog, yellow is sick or drunk, red is hottie alert and blue is kurt – B_

_you could have just used code red, I know there's no other hottie for you than kurt – S_

_SAM FOCUS – B_

_okay, okay, what happened? – S_

_he's in my dance 101 class, what do I do? – B_

_dude that's awesome, you can finally talk to him and teach him the moves of loooove – S_

_no it's horrible, he was early and then he bailed on me because he knows I have a crush on him and he hates me so he couldn't stand to be in the same room any longer – B_

_wow he told you that to your face? dude's got balls – S_

_no he didn't but he looked really shocked to see me and he ran out like I had an infectious disease so… – B_

_pretty sure you're blowing this out of proportions again man… maybe he forgot something and had to go get it – S_

_okay I have to go now but you've got this, you just gotta be your normal nice self – S_

_thanks sam I'll try – B_

He practices looking like his normal, nice self in the mirror a few times. He's still a bit jittery once the first group of students crowds into the room but he can feel himself relax once he's gotten into the routine of introducing himself to them as they come in.

Cassie comes in five minutes before the class starts and waves him aside to go over a few things she wants to announce. Blaine can see Kurt come back in and throw him a nervous glance as he sets his bag down in the far end of the room but he forces himself to be professional and stay focused so Cassie won't think he's a total nutcase who needs to be fired immediately.

She introduces both him and herself with her usual drawl, making sure that the new students are sufficiently terrified before she starts the lesson. Blaine has taken four of her classes in his two years of NYADA education and he knows she is a good teacher when she decides that you're worth her attention, and even motivating and funny, but as he takes in the wide-eyed faces in the group, he remembers being a scared, young freshman, utterly intimidated by her mere presence and immediately knows that he's going to be good cop in this scenario. He remembers going to Brody for help more than once in his first year, and he imagines he's going to be a source of advice for more than one of these new students.

He keeps himself from looking at Kurt more than necessary because he's got a job to do and he's not in the business of getting a reputation as the TA who ogles students, even if those students are his age and look unfairly dainty in their black dance outfit.

Cassie divides the class into two groups and leaves one of them to practice with Blaine; Kurt, thankfully, gets sorted into the other half, so Blaine is saved from leading any more awkward conversations that result in Kurt fleeing as quickly as possible.

It doesn't stop Kurt from being the first to leave the room once class is dismissed, though.

Blaine doesn't let himself overthink it, instead plasters a smile on his face and patiently starts to answer questions from students who've stayed behind to talk to him.

* * *

Once Kurt is back in the safety of the loft, door slid shut behind him, he leans against the wooden surface, closes his eyes and starts cursing like a sailor.

"Fuck, shit, fuck, Kurt Hummel, you're such a fucking nitwit."

There's an amused chuckle from the couch and Kurt's eyes open to find Santana sitting on one of the armrests with a bowl of cereal and an amused smirk on her face.

"Want me to join in?" Santana teases.

Kurt sighs. "Be my guest," he says, walking over and letting himself fall on the couch so that his head is right next to Santana's feet where they are perched on the cushion.

She thinks for a moment. "Kurt Dumbfuck Hummel, you're such a goddamn asswipe."

"I've heard better from you," Kurt deadpans.

"I was letting you off easy," Santana retorts with a shrug. "For real, though, what's biting your ass?"

"I just had Dance 101 class."

"Ah, did the Hulk go all berserk on you like she did on Little Miss David Schwimmer?" Santana asks. "Seriously, I have to write that woman a thank-you letter for that nickname."

"No," Kurt says. "Not yet, anyway. I'm sure it's inevitable. But that's not it."

Santana gets up to put her bowl in the sink and when she comes back, she nudges Kurt to make some room on the couch and plumps down next to him.

"Okay, tell me."

Kurt shrugs. "Blaine Anderson is the TA."

Santana raises both eyebrows. "Blaine  _Uber-Adorable_  Anderson?"

"Yup."

Santana cackles. "That's precious," she says. "Well, Rachel did say he was good at dancing."

"He is." Kurt hangs his head. "Ugh, this sucks."

"Why?"

Yes…  _why_?

Kurt can't really pinpoint what his problem is exactly. Where to start?

When the guy at the barre with the really nice ass spun around and turned out to be  _Blaine Anderson_  of all people, Kurt had suddenly panicked  _so hard_.

He knows rationally that Blaine can't really know it was him who sent that message but what if he was going to figure it out? He's his  _TA_ , for god's sake.

He should have never sent that message. He acted on a stupid little whim, thinking it would be nice to know the guy's name, and now Blaine is Cassandra July's teaching assistant and god, he said his TA was cute on a public forum, what the hell is his problem?

He tells Santana as much.

"Kurt, come on, you didn't know he'd be your TA," Santana tries to cheer him up. "And it's not even like you wrote something super scandalous. Does he seem nice, at least?"

Kurt nods miserably. "Super nice. And really cute up close." He sighs and buries his head in Santana's shoulder as he mumbles, "And his butt looks really good, too."

Santana giggles. "You know what? Maybe this is good for you."

"How would this be good for me?" Kurt asks incredulously.

"You like those meet-cutes in movies, right?" Santana asks and when Kurt nods, she continues, "And you want a meaningful connection and all that… well, here's your meet-cute with a good story to tell your future children."

"Oh god, are you out of your mind?" Kurt moans. "That is out of the question. It's better if I just forget all about him-"

"While he dances circles around you with that good-looking ass of his."

"- and just pretend like all of this never happened."

"Pretend like what never happened?" Rachel asks, stepping out of the bathroom wrapped in a big towel and sitting down next to Kurt.

Kurt lets Santana tell the story this time and just sinks deeper into the cushions as Rachel squeals into his ear.

The girls manage to convince him that he is exaggerating the impact of his message, especially considering that it was completely anonymous, but he feels paranoia nagging his brain nonetheless, which is why he still feels weird about the whole thing when he goes to his next class on Friday.

Blaine isn't there yet when he arrives and Kurt sighs in relief when he sets down his bag on one of the benches near the windows. He doesn't feel like chatting up his younger classmates – most upper classmen don't take introductory dance courses, having already done that in their freshman or sophomore year.

Kurt has to take the class this year. He started out as a freshman mid-year and taking Dance 102 right away wasn't an option. And last year, it collided with one of his singing classes, which he couldn't reschedule. And while acting is what he really needs to get up to par with to ever be hired as a performer, his dancing could use some improvement as well.

So, he sits by himself on the bench, not really feeling like talking to anyone, and watches silently as Miss July and Blaine enter the class together, quietly discussing something on their way to the piano where they drop their bags.

"Alright, everyone," Miss July announces once they're done talking. "Let's get moving. I trust you all did some stretching before I came in," Kurt winces because he had only watched as others did exactly that, "otherwise the next few steps can get really painful for you and I am going to enjoy every second of it."

She really isn't kidding. By the end of the first exercise, Kurt's legs are sore beyond words. But Miss July has already yelled at five different people in the class to get their act together, so he isn't going to let it show.

"Okay, next up," Miss July says calmly as she takes her usual spot in the center of the room, turning every now and then to have a good look at everyone in the circle, "we're going to do our first partner move."

When some people start to grab the person next to them or exchange desperate looks with their friends, she continues, "Did I say you had to choose your partner yourself? Blaine and I are going to show you how to do it and then Blaine is going to assist each and every one of you so that I can correct your technique and  _then_  you can go practice with a partner of your choice."

Kurt knows that it was inevitable from the get-go, really. Of course, Blaine is going to have to dance with each of them at one point. Kurt was just hoping it might be his turn rather later than sooner so he could get over his pathetic paranoia first.

As it is, he watches Blaine twirl Miss July and then about ten other girls and one guy before bending low to help them get into a near split. He winces when Miss July calls one girl out on not having stretched beforehand because she howls in pain as she tries to do the splits.

"You're next," Miss July addresses him.

Kurt feels his palms start to sweat immediately.  _Nice._  He's going to touch Blaine's hand in a second and his hands are basically wet.

Blaine doesn't say anything about that, though, just giving him a small smile, probably meant to be encouraging, as Kurt takes position next to him.

The move starts with Blaine pulling him in, then taking his other hand, twirling him three times and grabbing his waist to support his last move, the split. All Kurt has to do is not loose his footing during the twirls, putting one arm around Blaine's neck as he moves into the split and not letting it show on his face how much it hurts to stretch his legs that far.

All of that is much easier said than done, though, and he doesn't feel as graceful as it should look. Sure enough, Miss July clicks her tongue and comments, "Sloppy, Mr…?"

"Kurt Hummel," he replies in a small voice.

She squints at him. "I'll admit these moves aren't easy and it's only your second lesson but aren't you supposed to be a junior?"

"I- I am," Kurt says.

"And this is your first dance lesson."

"I've taken-"

"That wasn't a question," she interrupts him. "As far as I'm concerned, this is your first dance lesson. Have you stretched?"

"I…"

"That's a no, then." She purses her lips. "Do it again."

Kurt wants to protest, wants to tell her he's feeling really uncomfortable next to Blaine because of reasons he'd rather not share with the class, but that's not an option. Blaine himself hasn't said a word so far, he just wears a rigid, out-of-place looking smile on his face and just nods when Miss July tells them to do it again.

He holds up his hand once more for Kurt to take, and this time, Kurt tries to focus all of his energy on getting the moves right. Even while he's doing it, he knows he must look tense.

Miss July, of course, picks up on that. "Your moves are too mechanic and calculated, like the Tinman."

Kurt tries to play the innocent  _I'll never do it again_  card to get out of this humiliation but he sounds more snappy than anything else when he says, "I'm sorry, Miss July."

He is about to turn around and walk away, when she snaps her fingers in annoyance.

"I'm not done with you yet," she says. "Your moves need to get more elegant. You have a lot of catching-up to do and I usually grade my upper classmen more harshly. I'm going to give you a number of dance moves to work on until Friday next week and you're going to stick around after class and show me you can do it, otherwise you can kiss this class goodbye, Mr. Tinman-with-an-Attitude."

His eyes widen. He's got a week to learn a dance routine and perform it in front of his teacher and if he does badly, she's going to cut him from her class?

He feels rage bubble up inside his chest, but he knows from Rachel's stories how stupid it would be to actually act on it, so he nods grimly and steps back until he finds his place back in the circle of students, who, without a doubt, are silently making fun of him. He presses his lips together thinly to keep from crying.

He stays rooted in his spot until they move on to end-of-class stretching because they spent more than half of the class doing the little power play Miss July calls "partner exercise".

After the class, Miss July waves him over to give him his extra work. He nods, but doesn't say a word to his teacher.

He walks back to his initial place over at the windows, packing his bag slowly, trying to keep the tears in. God, when was the last time a teacher made him cry?

_Nobody pushes the Hummels around._

He breathes in deeply to make the lump in his throat go away. Getting a little calmer, he focuses on his breathing until he notices someone sitting down next to him.

"Hey."

It's Blaine. Kurt opens his eyes and realizes he's the only student left in the room.

"I, uh, I'm sorry for that."

"Why?" Kurt asks tiredly. "I'm the one who messed up."

"You didn't." Blaine shrugs. "You're just a little rusty."

Kurt shakes his head silently.

"When was the last time you danced a routine?"

"How do you even know I've ever been involved in one?"

Blaine shrugs again. "Like I said, you seemed rusty, not inexperienced."

"Senior year in high school," Kurt admits. "And I haven't had a real lesson since ballet class in kindergarten."

It's true when he thinks about it; he hasn't danced at all since their last Glee competition. His acting and singing classes at NYADA never required him to dance for the public performances, and the few dance steps he did with Elliott and Dani when they had a gig or two downtown don't really count as dancing a routine.

"See?" Blaine says sweetly and Kurt can't help but smile a little.

"Thanks," Kurt says, getting up. "I guess I'll go practice for the early midterm she just gave me," he adds with a frown.

"I could help you with that," Blaine offers at once. Kurt thinks he sees a hint of a blush when he looks at Blaine, but maybe that's just from dancing for two hours straight.

And, in any case, he can't accept the offer, as much as he needs the help. He still feels uneasy being around Blaine with that NYADA Crushes post hanging between them like a big reminder of Kurt's patheticness.

He curses himself as he shakes his head quickly and says, "No, I'm fine."

Blaine bites his lip. "Oh, okay."

God, he probably sounded harsh, didn't he?

"I mean, I've got this," Kurt says, and the whole conversation has suddenly turned so awkward he just wants to run for the hills. "I really need to go, see you on Monday!"

"Yeah, see you," Blaine replies and walks over to the piano to grab his stuff.

Kurt walks out as fast as he can with his legs still burning from the split.

* * *

Sam keeps insisting that there is no possible way for Kurt to know that Blaine is behind that confession on NYADA Crushes, but Blaine really can't see any other reason for why Kurt would avoid him. He's been nothing but nice to Kurt ever since they officially met each other, and he can't comprehend why Kurt would put as much distance as possible between them during class on Monday. Blaine can't even ask him about his progress with the extra work Cassie's assigned him because, again, Kurt's the first one out of class.

So unless Kurt knows him from somewhere else or has heard rumors about him or has an aversion against people called Blaine or against short people, there really is no reason for him to dodge Blaine's approaches (as a TA, not as a flirt!).

"That's a lot of 'or's," Sam points out. "Maybe you're onto something."

"If any of those are true, I don't stand a chance anyway," Blaine mumbles.

Oh, has he mentioned that his silly crush is back full force? Yeah, that happened.

All the hard work he's done over summer – diminished the second he took in Kurt's nervous smile when he had offered him his hand for the partner exercise.

It's really unfortunate because not only was he trying to get over his stupid attraction, he also could do without an urge to kill his boss just because she picked on the guy he is crushing on. But really, he hasn't been this mad at Cassie since he was a freshman in her class.

And it's not like he couldn't feel that Kurt was experienced as a dancer when they did the exercise. He didn't say that to be nice, he actually sensed it. Even Cassie had commented on it afterwards, saying, "Oh, I'll get him back in shape."

She was being unnecessarily mean and Blaine had to clench his teeth to stop from defending Kurt.

"Didn't you say her being mean was actually what got you motivated your freshman year?" Sam asks nonchalantly as he munches away on a carrot like a rabbit. Blaine only grumbles in response and Sam laughs. "Okay, I get it, it's Kurt."

Blaine sighs. "Why won't he talk to me, Sam?"

"Dude, remember how he just met you  _last week_?" Sam asks. "Maybe you need to get over the thought of him hating you and just accept that he doesn't actually know you that well. Maybe he just doesn't have people skills. Maybe he's careful with strangers. You're overthinking this way too hard, bro. I'm sure he'll come around to liking you."

Well, that actually makes a lot of sense, if Blaine thinks about it. For someone who supposedly only learned of Kurt's existence last week, at least if he lets himself believe that Kurt doesn't know he is the secret admirer of one and a half years, Blaine might be overly eager to be friends with Kurt.

True to Sam's word, Blaine notices a little change in Kurt's demeanor on Wednesday. He doesn't actively seek him out or anything, but he doesn't seem to have a problem with standing in his vicinity during most exercises. To say that he's relieved is probably an understatement, and Blaine actually whistles while packing everything back into his bag. Cassie's already gone, and he's talking to some of the students casually before he notices that Kurt's sitting at his usual place over by the windows, looking like he's waiting for his classmates to disappear.

"Everything alright?" he asks tentatively once they're alone.

Kurt looks up shyly. "I… uh, I'm sorry, I bet you're busy but… I could use some help on those extra steps after all and-"

"Say no more," Blaine says with a grin. "I'm in."

Kurt flushes. "Thanks," he mumbles. "I realize it's a bit late but, uh-"

"Are you free right now?"

"Wha- um, yeah."

"The room is free after class, it's when I usually practice on my own," Blaine explains. "And we're both already in our dance clothes so…?"

"Yeah, perfect," Kurt says gratefully and gets the slip of paper on which Cassie had apparently written down all the moves he was supposed to catch up on.

Blaine winces when he reads through them. "Wow, she really didn't like it when you snapped at her," he says in sympathy.

"I don't do well with people picking on me," Kurt mumbles with a bit of a dark look in his eyes.

Blaine remembers the cuts and bruises at Miss Tibideaux's showcase and wonders if that has something to do with it as well. But he doesn't ask. Can't ask, actually. He's not supposed to know Kurt.

And he doesn't, he realizes half an hour later, not really.

He's known that Kurt is handsome and talented and witty but there are so many more aspects to Kurt Hummel that he could've never guessed just from simple observations in the hallway or at a showcase.

For example, Kurt is really impatient – he complains about not understanding the move after just one try – and sort of snarky when he thinks he is being criticized. Kurt is also really, really cute when he finally does learn how to do a particular twirl, bouncing on the heels of his feet and pressing his hands to his cheek with a happy grin.

Another fifteen minutes later, both exhausted and sweaty, Blaine says, stretching his legs out on the floor, "I think you've got it!"

"Really?" Kurt says, a little unsure. "I felt a bit awkward on that last bit."

Blaine puts  _second-guessing_  on his list of things he didn't know about Kurt Hummel, right next to  _impatient_  and  _perfectionist_.

It's probably his favorite list so far – and Blaine has lists for almost everything, so that's really saying something.

"Looked fine to me," Blaine says, and pushes himself back up to a standing position, "but sure, let's do it one more time."

"I'm keeping you," Kurt realizes with a blush.

"No, not at all," Blaine says. He does have some dance moves to go over but it's nothing he can't do at home. "Come on."

Kurt does the routine again and he looks so good doing it this time, Blaine can't help but clap happily afterwards.

"That was fantastic, Kurt," he says. "I'm sure Cassie- uh, Miss July will be happy."

Kurt laughs. "It's not a word I'd associate with her character, but okay." He suddenly claps his hand over his mouth. "Oh god, that was inappropriate!" he exclaims. "She's your boss, I'm sorry."

Blaine grins widely. "I'm sure she would have taken it as a compliment," he quips. "And… she's not actually that bad once you get to know her."

He wants to add that he, Blaine, isn't, either, but once again, he has to keep his mouth shut because he couldn't possibly explain the intention behind his words if Kurt asked.

And besides, Kurt does seem to have warmed up to him, if the smile Blaine receives when he leaves the room is any indication.

"Thanks, Blaine," he says. "It was really nice of you to help me."

"Anytime," Blaine replies.

Maybe they're off to a good start, after all.

He just needs a way to tell Sam without implying that he was right all along.

* * *

Kurt is jittery the whole class long on Friday but if Miss July notices it, she doesn't comment on it, maybe to lure him into a false sense of security or because she knows she has a chance to make him miserable all she wants after class.

Blaine is all encouraging smiles and comforting presence that day and Kurt thanks his lucky stars that, apparently, his lapse of judgment that day on NYADA Crushes hasn't ruined everything after all.

He doesn't know what he would have done without Blaine's help. He tried getting the girls to assist him but Rachel was super busy with Funny Girl and Santana kept claiming she had somewhere to be even though she ended up staying in and now Kurt has a feeling she was just trying to get him to ask Blaine.

Which was probably better than getting the girls' help because Blaine was very well-versed with the moves. And also really, really, really nice.

Kurt can't stress enough how nice he is.

A week ago, Blaine's presence made him as uncomfortable as physically possible.

Now he's hoping he'll stick around for his mini-exam because he has a feeling he'll be a lot less nervous if Blaine is there to smile at him.

Luck is on his side yet again because before Kurt can make up his mind and flat-out ask Blaine if he can stay, Miss July motions for both of them to follow her to the other side of the room.

"Mr. Tinman," she says, leaning her back against the piano.

"Reporting for duty," Kurt says with an awkward, self-conscious chuckle.

She scrutinizes him. "I trust you're prepared."

Kurt nods.

She shoos away some of the more curious students who try to stay behind and watch Kurt make a fool out of himself, and closes the door after them, before turning around and snapping a finger in the direction of the dance floor.

"Show me what you've got."

Kurt stands front and center, a few feet between him and Miss July and Blaine, and takes a deep breath.

He forces to let go a little. He needs to be concentrated enough to nail the moves but not overthink it so he won't look robotic again. He's really not fond of his new nickname.

So he gets into position, lifts his arms, bends his knees and starts with the basic ballet moves. The routine is a mix of styles but, having done ballet as a child, Kurt is glad that ballet is more heavily featured in the first part. It helps him relax. As he moves into more modern and jazzy moves, he just focuses on the waves his body is forming, following his instincts. He doesn't have any music, which usually makes him feel weird, but Blaine told him to just let the beat he starts out with replaying in his head like a mantra, and it's working well for him so far. He slows down a bit on the last part, moving back into a standard ballet position, which he holds as he lifts his head and looks Miss July right in the eye.

She lifts an eyebrow, clearly surprised by his improvement, but doesn't say anything to Kurt. Instead, she looks to Blaine and demands, "Assist him with that partner routine again."

Kurt's heart sinks. They haven't practiced that one; it wasn't part of Miss July's requirements for him. Blaine goes to stand next to him and pierces him with his hazel eyes. Kurt understands the message:  _You can do it._

Taking another deep breath, he grabs Blaine's head, lets himself be pulled in, twirls three times, lets his arm fall around Blaine's neck and sinks down deep into the split position.

When he gets back up, Miss July says, "You helped him."

It is clear that she doesn't mean the step they did just now. She knows Blaine has been working with him on the routine.

Blaine looks a bit helpless next to him, opening his mouth but not finding a fitting explanation and Kurt hurries to say, "It was my idea."

Blaine shakes his head quickly. "I offered, really," he says. "I didn't know I wasn't supposed to."

Miss July waves a dismissive hand. "Oh please, like I care," she says to Blaine. Turning to Kurt, she adds, "Good for you that you got yourself some help. I don't like self-involved students who think they know best. Your moves were much better. Have you danced ballet before?"

"Yes, as a child."

"Thought so." She gives him a curt nod. "Well done, Mr. Tinman, I'll see you on Monday. Blaine, good work today."

"Thanks," they say at the same time, watching as she leaves the room.

"Kurt, that was great!" Blaine exclaims once she's gone.

Kurt lets out a relieved laugh. "I was so worried!"

"Me, too, I saw how distracted you were in class."

"God, I couldn't concentrate. I'm pretty sure I missed half of the moves she was teaching." Kurt sighs in frustration. "I hope it won't give me a disadvantage on Monday, I really don't want a repeat of this."

Blaine walks up to him and holds out his hand like he's on autopilot.

"Wanna practice?" he asks with a wink.

He fucking winks at Kurt.

"Sure," Kurt breathes out.

* * *

They continue to meet up after class for some dance routine practice, even when Kurt nailed all the moves in class. At first they both make excuses for it, Blaine claiming that he saw Kurt was a little shaky on a particular step, or Kurt asking if Blaine can help him perfect the moves he isn't comfortable with yet.

But a few weeks in, it stops being something they need to ask for. It's too much fun to stay behind after class and just wind down together, one of them lazily going over a move while the other lies down and makes silly comments.

When they run out of things to practice for Dance 101, Blaine shows him how to dance the twist, or Kurt helps Blaine with his stage combat homework. Sometimes they just goof off and start making up dance routines for whatever song is playing on the radio.

Blaine grows rather fond of their Teenage Dream dance number.

His list of things he didn't know about Kurt Hummel grows and grows and he's starting to lose the fantasy idea of Kurt and replacing it with the real deal. He's more amazing in person than Blaine could have ever imagined and he's still a little floored that he finally gets to know him this way.

He still sometimes panics about Kurt finding out about the NYADA Crushes thing but by now, their friendship is probably strong enough to survive it.

Though that isn't to say it wouldn't still be sort of awkward if Kurt found out. Because Blaine could play it off as a silly crush before but now… his crush has probably increased tenfold.

It's sort of hard not to crush on someone as adorable as Kurt.

Sam hits his breaking point when Blaine comes home after an especially hilarious dance session, telling his best friend all about Kurt's really impressive and frustratingly sexy Single Ladies dance.

"I get it, I get it," Sam says with an eyeroll, "Kurt's hips don't lie."

"That's Shakira." Blaine frowns. "Are you… mad?"

"No," Sam huffs out.

"You know he's not replacing you as my best friend, right?" Blaine asks carefully, leaning over the couch to ruffle Sam's hair.

Sam gives him a little lopsided smile. "Yeah, I know," he says. "It's just that you've been talking non-stop since you came home and I was really hoping I could tell you about the new job I booked at some point today."

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," Blaine rushes to say. "I'll shut up right now, tell me everything."

He listens to Sam talk about Bubble, the new butt-enhancing underwear, for about an hour, even managing not to look to confused while Sam explains the benefits of said garment, and makes sure that he showers his best friend with attention for the rest of the day. He makes it all the way through dinner but when they wash the dishes and turn on the radio, Blaine can't control himself when he hears the opening chords of Teenage Dream and gasps, "Our song!"

Sam makes him dance the whole choreography for him and pretends to be a swooning Kurt for the better half of it, before breaking down laughing and telling Blaine he's an idiot.

"All this time I've listened to you whine, you could've been this happy," he muses. "I should have just walked into one of Kurt's classes and told him what's what."

"Noooo," Blaine whines. "I like it so much better this way."

Sam makes a pained face, very obviously thinking about the one and a half years Blaine had spent admiring Kurt from the distance.

In the end, he shrugs. "Only because you're my best friend."

* * *

Kurt works the late night shift at the Spotlight diner and ends up falling asleep in his uniform once he finally makes it back home and into bed.

The next morning, he wakes up at half past eight, jolting into a seated positions once he realizes he is super late for dance class, and hurries to the bathroom.

"Santana, please open the door, I'm really screwed if you don't!"

"Getting screwed would do you good," she greets him when she opens the door in her underwear, clearly in the middle of getting ready herself, before stepping aside and adding, "but I'm no monster."

"Thank you!" Kurt gasps and does everything that usually takes him half an hour in about five minutes.

His hair is still disheveled, but a quick glance at his wristwatch tells him that there's really no time at all to fix it.

"Bye!" he yells as he rushes to the door.

Santana salutes him. "Later, dude."

He throws her a quick grin and hurries off. He runs like a madman, not wanting to give Miss July another reason to give him a hard time, not when she's finally not addressing him by that awful nickname anymore and even complimenting his progress every once in a while.

With half a minute to spare, he runs towards the classroom door and arrives exactly as Miss July is about to close the door.

She raises a silent eyebrow at him, and Blaine gives him an amused look, clearly directed at his hair. Kurt shields it with his hand and responds with a playful glare.

Blaine and he have struck up… a wonderful friendship.

Which, despite all of its wonderfulness, is driving Kurt crazy.

Because he kind of wants more.

Who knew that back in April, when he saw Blaine slip and fall outside the main hall, that his eye was so good at spotting boyfriend material?

Because, really, that's what Blaine is. Pure boyfriend material.

If Blaine was boyfriend jeans, he'd be size Kurt.

If just one of Kurt's blind dates had had Blaine's sense of humor, his style and exuberant charm, his amazing kindness or maybe just his ability to make Kurt smile for no particular reason, he probably wouldn't have sworn off them.

But as it is, Blaine is not a blind date. Blaine is someone he can see himself go on a not-so-blind date with. Blaine is someone he really wants to kiss when he bites his lip or runs his hand through his hair when the curls escape from sweating too much during a dance routine. Blaine is someone he once wrote an anonymous message on NYADA Crushes on, which still hasn't come up yet even though they've discussed their love life, or lack thereof, briefly.

But those are dangerous thoughts to have on a morning when he hasn't even had coffee yet because it might make him say things he shouldn't say. So Kurt looks away quickly and drops of his bag in his usual corner before joining the circle.

Their warm-up is a pretty simple mix of basic steps. Kurt suppresses a yawn every two minutes and ignores Blaine shaking his head at him fondly.

There's another dangerous thought. Blaine is  _fond_  of him. Maybe even more than that.

Kurt hasn't had much experience with relationships but he's pretty sure he can read the signs right. And Blaine is giving him  _a lot_  of signals.

And really, at this point, the only thing holding Kurt back from taking his flirting up a notch is that stupid anonymous message. He can practically feel the girls rolling their eyes at him all the way back from the apartment because it really shouldn't be that big of a deal. He's making mountains out of molehills, and he knows it.

He's kind of hoping that Blaine will make a move first and that it won't have to come up at all.

Miss July asks them to pair up for partner exercises and it doesn't even occur to either Blaine or Kurt to pretend like they just casually chose each other, Kurt looking at him before Miss July can even finish her sentence and Blaine already bouncing over with a smile.

Kurt's honestly a bit surprised that he hasn't gotten any mean looks from other students yet, or been accused by sleeping with his TA to improve his grade. But it's probably because they all know Miss July would fry their asses if they accused Blaine of something like that.

And as Miss July has stated several times, according to Blaine, she couldn't care less what he does in his free time once class is over.

She explains the move first, then asks Blaine to help her show it to everyone. The first half looks easy enough, a wide half-twirl with joint hands, a little sidestep posture, and then repeating the same move a little faster to the other side. But Kurt's eyes widen, and he sees several other students whisper as well, when Miss July stands close to Blaine, grabs her right foot with her right hand, lifts her leg high up into the air and leans away from Blaine as he supports her only with his hand.

Kurt feels way too tired for that.

Blaine chuckles when he takes in Kurt's worried expression.

"Late night?" he murmurs when he goes back to stand next to Kurt.

"Work at the diner."

"Alright, practice your moves," Miss July announces close to Kurt's ear and a little too loudly for his taste, "and please don't come to me if any of your bones crack, those are questions you can torment your physician with."

Kurt sighs and assumes his initial position, Blaine taking Kurt's right hand in his left. Before they start, Blaine suggest to work on the first half of the move first, and Kurt agrees immediately.

They go over it a few times but it's not very difficult, so there's no excuse to keep practicing the easy half of the step. Blaine even offers to switch positions the first few times they practice the next half so that Kurt only needs to support him and not do the leg thingy.

Kurt guesses it's kind of sweet of Blaine to trust him with his life like that when Kurt doesn't even feel awake enough to  _stand_.

But it works well, and Kurt has to admit that seeing Blaine lift his leg up high into the air like it's no big deal makes him stay a little bit more awake each time it happens.

"We have to switch at some point," Blaine finally says, squeezing Kurt's hand in his when Kurt grimaces. "You'll be fine."

The first half goes well, as expected, but when Kurt lifts his leg and leans forward, he loses his footing immediately and sways for a second before dropping his leg completely.

The second time is even worse because this time, he doesn't just go off balance, he actually manages to let go of Blaine's hand and fall. He manages to whip around while falling, which is how he ends up landing on his butt and getting a good look at Blaine's amused face.

Kurt winces, and the expression changes from amused to worried immediately.

Before Blaine can help him up, though, Kurt pushes himself from the ground, grumbling without thinking, "No, go ahead, I laughed too that one time you fell on your butt on the staircase and-"

He breaks off when he realizes what he's saying.

_Oh god, this isn't happening._

Blaine's eyes are as wide as saucers when he, too, realizes what Kurt's words mean.

Kurt steps forward at once, and stumbles over his words, trying to be as quiet as possible because they're still in  _fucking dance class_ , but needing to explain anyway, "God, I didn't mean to- I mean, that was- I wasn't trying to be creepy or anything, I just- just thought you were sort of cute, you know, the way you fell down, and- and I didn't know your name so I thought, 'Why not?' I… uh, fuck, I swear this wasn't just an elaborate plan to stalk you or something, I'm so sorry-"

Blaine puts a finger to his lips. "Sshhh," he whispers.

Oh, right. Dance class.

God, he almost made a fool out of himself in front of the guy he likes  _and_  his classmates  _and_  his instructor.

Good thing Blaine was there to stop-  _No._  Bad thing Blaine is there. Blaine probably hates him for semi-stalking him.

He chances a look at the boy in question and is a little lost for words when Blaine looks at him like he is the most curious thing in the universe, eyes searching and mouth agape, obviously trying to find the right words to respond with.

"I never got how I could have looked cute falling down a flight of stairs," is what Blaine finally settles on, "but seeing you fall right now… I think I get it."

Kurt's heart flutters nervously. Did Blaine just say what he thinks he said? That not only he wasn't mad at Kurt for not saying anything about that day in front of NYADA but on top of that, he thought Kurt was cute, too?

Wow, he hasn't had any coffee, his hair is a mess, and his butt is aching with pain, but this is shaping up to be the best dance class ever.

Miss July is coming their way, so neither of them has time to elaborate their thoughts any further, and instead they just go for the move a second time, Kurt managing to just look shaky this time and not completely incompetent. He still gets a snarky comment from Miss July but he doesn't particularly care.

He'll just practice with Blaine after class. Over and over and over again.

Which is exactly why Kurt can't wait to finally be alone with Blaine.

"God, I thought they'd never leave," he says once the door is closed and it's just the two of them.

He steps closer to Blaine and grins a little flirtatiously. Because if he finally gets a green light on flirting, he plans to use all of his assets without abandon.

Blaine's own smile looks a little feeble to Kurt. "Do you want to practice that move again?"

Okay. If he's being completely honest, Kurt expected some more talking, but if Blaine wants to practice first… he's still not entirely over the embarrassment of his sudden outburst, so maybe it's a good thing if they don't talk right away.

He takes Blaine's hand, and moves into the step easily, though the end pose still makes him stumble.

"Maybe we should practice it with more support," Blaine suggests and moves in a little closer, wrapping his arms around Kurt's waist to support him and hooking his head on Kurt's shoulder while Kurt is still holding his leg up.

 _Whoa._  So Kurt's not the only one to be happy the flirting has officially begun.

He is starting to get a little breathless as he practices lifting his leg and letting it fall gracefully over and over again, listening to Blaine softly mumble instructions into his ear.

On the fourth try, he actually manages to stay still, and they both cheer a little. Blaine's laughter against his back feels really nice, and Kurt turns his head towards Blaine's subconsciously.

He isn't really prepared for lips so close to his.

He's debating back and forth whether he should just go for it, but Blaine is suddenly opening his mouth to say something.

"I know you kind of confessed on accident," he mutters, face so close to Kurt's that Kurt can see his skin redden step by step, which is kind of adorable, "but I have something to tell you, too." Blaine takes a deep breath. "Remember that post back in December that someone made to admit that they had a crush on you?"

Kurt frowns. "Yeah. Why?"

Blaine blushes even more.

Oh.

_Oh._

"That was you?" Kurt breathes out, breaking away from their position and turning his body to face Blaine.

Blaine nods sheepishly.

What the  _hell_  is this morning?

He doesn't say that. "Oh my god," he whispers instead.

Blaine bites his lip. "Good or bad reaction?"

"Uh." Kurt thinks for a moment. "Both."

Blaine looks like he is taking that the wrong way so Kurt grabs one of the hands that are still on his waist.

"I mean," he says, and pouts a little for good measure, "we could have been dating all this time you spent not saying anything."

Blaine exhales shakily. "You would have said yes?"

"Are you kidding?" Kurt giggles. "I've already proven that I thought you were cute before I met you. One word from you after that post and I would have  _begged_  you to date me. God, I thought that post was a joke or something, and instead it's this amazing guy-"

"Wait, you thought it was a joke?" Blaine asks sadly.

"Yeah, well… I just couldn't think of anyone who would have written that and meant it."

"I meant every word of it," Blaine says at once, and Kurt smiles widely, tugging him closer by their joint hands.

"We're  _idiots_ ," he says, before leaning in to finally press their lips together and lets himself get lost in the feeling of  _warm_  and  _soft_  and,  _oh, tongue_  – wow, kissing is really wonderful when it's with the right person, he thinks dizzily, and lets out a small sigh against Blaine's lips.

He has a feeling they won't get much dancing done today.

And if the feeling turns out to be accurate, he won't complain one bit.

Parting with a little smack, he's pleased to find Blaine just as dazed as himself, and promptly moves in for more, chuckling into the kiss when Blaine starts to move and actually starts  _dancing_  with Kurt while kissing him.

"Dork," Kurt whispers fondly, and twirls away when the step calls for it.

Once Blaine pulls him back in, he steadies Kurt by the waist, and says, "You know… I've sort of had a crush on you since December 2012. So I think I can't go another minute without asking you out on a date."

"This isn't a date?" Kurt jokes. "I mean, there's dancing… and kissing… mhh-"

Blaine drives the point home by silencing him with a kiss, to which Kurt happily complies.

God, had he known the solution to all of this was so  _easy_ , Kurt would have listened to Santana and Rachel weeks ag-

"Noooo," he groans. "If Rachel and Santana find out about this, they're going to make my life a living hell."

Blaine chuckles but cuts himself off once he realizes they're in the same boat. "Damn it, Sam, too."

Kurt runs his fingers up and down Blaine's arms in thought. "You know," he says, "I might have an idea."

Because… their friends can't get mad at them if they ask for forgiveness in the same way it all started, right?

**Author's Note:**

> Do me a favor and ignore Santana's typo in the FB post. Those were very exhausting to make and I was too lazy to redo the whole thing. ;)
> 
> I will be posting a few extra notes for this chapter on my Tumblr (notthetoothfairy), for example a video with visuals for the two partner dance moves Kurt and Blaine have to do. :)


End file.
